Photograph by Robert Scheer
Presidential candidate Bob Dole greets a crowd of supporters in Sunnyvale June 18.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole swept through Sunnyvale June 18, making a stop at a local defense company where he received a fairly warm welcome from an audience of more than 500.
Dole promised employees at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Co. that, if he is elected president, he will support an increase in federal defense spending.
Dole addressed the Sunnyvale crowd as part of a campaign tour of California.
"In my administration, and it will be my administration come January, we will build a defense system for California and America against missiles," Dole said.
Dole accused the Clinton administration of cutbacks to crucial defense funding, which he said caused the loss of 215,000 defense-related jobs in California over the last 10 years.
Dole warned his audience that California and the United States face a serious threat from international terrorism.
"The threat imposed by missiles is real," he said. "The United States has no means of defense against this threat."
Dole said Lockheed has been in the process of developing a missile defense system since 1968, but the project has not had the funding necessary to implement it.
A few Dole supporters, including former ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, California Gov. Pete Wilson and state Attorney General Dan Lungren, stood by the former senator as he spoke. Wilson and Kirkpatrick also spoke on behalf of Dole's candidacy.
The Lockheed employees who gathered to listen to Dole's speech seemed to support his ideas. Every so often, scattered applause greeted Dole's words.
Jerry Kamprath, 50, of San Jose, works in finance for Lockheed's missile defense systems unit. He said that he will vote for Dole because he likes the candidate's economic message and his plan for a balanced budget. In addition, Kamprath said he believes that Dole has more political integrity than President Clinton.
Jim Rea, a Lockheed employee who lives in Sunnyvale, said that although he is currently undecided on who he will vote for in November, Dole's speech was "very inspirational and might sway me over to his side."
Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, a former mayor of Sunnyvale, said after Dole's speech that he does not agree with the candidate's plan to increase defense spending.
"I thought it was a tired and worn message that isn't going to wash too well in Silicon Valley. We don't need to return to the old ways. That's what got us into a recession in the first place," Stone said.
He added that the United States is no longer dependent on the defense industry and does not need a $30 billion to $60 billion Strategic Defense Initiative plan.
Stone maintained that the economy in Silicon Valley is booming largely due to the Clinton administration's support of converting the defense industry to a more diversified technology.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 26, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.